Off of an overtime goal from Liz Schepers, the Minnesota Frost have won game 4 of the Walter Cup Finals, securing the team the Walter Cup for the second straight season.
Through the game’s first period, though plays were lively and opportunities were plentiful, the story of the Walter Cup playoffs remained the story of this game, with low scoring and excellent goaltending. By the end of the period, neither side had scored a goal. This is despite each team taking a penalty and both sides managing to put an impressive 12 shots on net.
From the second period onward, the refs opted to adopt a “play on” philosophy, deciding not to call penalties on some rough plays from both sides that could have easily been called. Though Minnesota would enter the second period on a power play from a late first period Ottawa penalty, they wouldn’t score on it, keeping the game 0-0.
At just about the halfway point of regulation, with 10 minutes to go in the second period, off a perfect pass across the net from Claire Thompson, Minnesota’s Kelly Pannek slotted the puck top shelf over Ottawa goaltender Gwyneth Philips to make the game 1-0 for the Frost. This was Pannek’s 2nd goal of the postseason, nearly tying the 3 goals she scored through the regular season.
As the second period came to a close, this game continued to be defined by turbulent offense and goaltending masterclasses from both sides. Through two periods, the Charge had put 23 shots on goal, and the Frost even topped this at 26. Still, between these 49 combined shots, there was only one goal to show for it.
Entering the third period, Ottawa’s offensive struggles seemed as though they were destined to continue; they still had zero goals after only scoring one-a-game through games 2 and 3. Exactly 20 minutes after Pannek’s goal, though, team goal leader Tereza Vanišová got a shot past Frost goalie Maddie Rooney to save the Charge’s season. And as time ticked down, as both teams put 30+ shots on target, it became apparent that this would be the fourth straight Walter Cup Finals game to go into overtime.
This was largely thanks to Charge goalie Gwyneth Philips, who needed to make heroic pad “toe saves” and impressive stops off deflections to keep Ottawa in the game. Through offensive struggles and barrages in the Charge’s D-zone, Philips continued to single-handedly keep the Charge competitive in the Walter Cup Finals.
Early in OT, Ottawa came just a hair away from winning the game when a shot narrowly bounced out off the post and bar. The overtime of this game remained chippy, and this was proven too much for refs to ignore when a double-penalty was called on Ottawa’s Shiann Darkangelo and Minnesota’s Natalie Buchbinder for roughing after the whistle, which would send overtime to a 4-on-4 for two minutes. Despite some strong opportunities for the Frost during these two minutes, the time was ultimately killed.
Over halfway through overtime, with the looming possibility that the game would once again go to multiple overtimes, the puck began to get messy in front of Ottawa’s net. As bodies fell and Charge goalie lost sight of the puck, Minnesota forward Liz Schepers caught goalie Gwyneth Philips out of the net and scored the Walter Cup Finals winning goal.
As soon as this goal was scored, the players of the Frost stormed the ice and piled on top of overtime hero Schepers, who’d just scored the game-winning goal in her second straight Walter Cup Finals, having done the same thing in last year’s finals vs Boston.
Walter Cup Finals Cup and Playoffs MVP Presentation
In the post-game presentation for the Walter Cup and the playoffs MVP, retired Olympic gold medalist and current co-host of the Jocks in Jills Podcast Tessa Bonhomme praised Ottawa’s Carla MacLeod, Gwyneth Philips, other players, and passionate fans to roaring support from the Minnesota fans.
When it was time to present the Ilana Kloss Trophy for PWHL Playoffs MVP, it wasn’t obvious which standout star of the Frost would win it, but when Gwyneth Philips of the losing Charge unexpectedly won it, it all made sense. The Trophy, named after South African tennis legend and PWHL Advisory Board Member Ilana Kloss, was well deserved for Philips despite her team’s loss.
Through 8 playoff games, Philips maintained a ridiculous 0.954 save percentage and 1.23 GAA. In tears over her team’s loss, Philips skated up to accept the trophy before being embraced by her teammates and coach. Whatever happens for Ottawa over the offseason, they’ll feel reassured to hang on to the woman who may have just emerged as the league’s top goaltender.
Ultimately, the story of these playoffs for Ottawa would be a lack of help for Philips. Through the finals, Philips maintained a save percentage of about 0.950, and faced 47 and 38 shots in the final two games of the series, only letting in 2 goals each game. Still, her Charge couldn’t score more than 1 in either game, resulting in the team’s series loss.
To close the Walter Cup Finals Ceremony, Bonhomme introduced the Cup back into the building for the second straight year, and PWHL Advisory Board Membe, tennis legend, and Kloss’ wife Billie Jean King gave a heartfelt speech about the importance of having a league like the PWHL to showcase female excellence in sports. At the end of her speech and a brief speech from Kimbra Walter, the Walter Cup was passed around amongst the players of the Frost.
This season was ultimately a massive success for the PWHL. Looking into next season, the league has a ton of momentum, an expansion draft, and a whole new player pool to be excited for going into 2025-26.
